Home Gaming FFD: Microsoft needs to bring its “A Game” to next gen

FFD: Microsoft needs to bring its “A Game” to next gen

1 min read
83

FFDmattrick

Right. I’m sure many of you are sick to death of the PlayStation 4 news following the systems reveal early yesterday morning. It’s brought about some pretty mixed reception – with some believing Sony hasn’t shown or done enough, hasn’t utilised enough tech, or has just copied Nintendo (again).

I’m on the side of the fence that believes Sony very nearly knocked it out of the park; it’s got a beast of a console with ton of interesting features – but above all, it has a genuine focus on games, gamers and game developers; an ethos that I believe will really help Sony when the next-gen battle really starts.

I was wowed – and I think Microsoft’s going to have to do something really special to swing momentum back its way. With the company so seemingly set on the evolution of Kinect and entertainment services over actual videogames, and a rumoured set of specs for its next console that are significantly lower than the PlayStation 4 ‘s the next box is going to be a hard sell when it comes to “core” gamers.

Microsoft’s become complacent with its 360 success, and is  going to have to bring its A game when it reveals its own next generation console.

Do you agree? What would you like to see from the nextbox that would have you favouring the Redmond giant’s console over Sony’s?

Last Updated: February 22, 2013

83 Comments

  1. Admiral Chief Erwin

    February 22, 2013 at 10:53

    They need to pull rabbit out of their ass to beat that.

    Reply

    • FoxOneZA

      February 22, 2013 at 11:03

      To beat a PC? 😀

      Reply

      • OVG

        February 22, 2013 at 13:53

        Not quite…It just falls short of a high end PC according to the boys at Watch Dogs :p

        Reply

    • Willem Swanepoel

      February 22, 2013 at 12:32

      too be honest. Sony did not show that much innovation…they announced things that people wanted to hear.

      Reply

      • Sir Captain Rincethis

        February 22, 2013 at 14:04

        How DARE you! What about Diablo 3?! THAT is innovation! (Wraps arms about self and rocks backwards and forwards)

        Reply

    • Eric Viljoen

      February 22, 2013 at 14:27

      I think spec wise it’s going to be pretty close. In the end people would choose purely for brand and exclusive games. Besides, we haven’t heard about price yet, which would probably be the deciding factor in the end.

      Reply

  2. Lardus

    February 22, 2013 at 10:53

    Final specifications will play a big part. I want POWA!!! I want beauty. If the performance/stats are comparable, the one that DOES NOT limit pre-played games and DOES NOT force me to play ONLINE, will get my vote. *also not force me to go online AT ALL if I do not want to*

    Reply

  3. Robert Infy Hart

    February 22, 2013 at 10:54

    All they need to do is go with Intel and Nvidia instead of AMD.

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief Erwin

      February 22, 2013 at 11:25

      Wrong

      Reply

    • Johan du Preez

      February 25, 2013 at 13:48

      100% right or at least have a separate physx processor if they going AMD.

      Reply

  4. FoxOneZA

    February 22, 2013 at 11:02

    The PS4 announcement was a farce! It was more of an event showcasing to the investors that they are working on a next-gen console.

    There was no hardware there and just mumbo jumbo that read out as “PWETI GFX”. Anyone can make some high-res vids on a PC and show it off.

    MS on the other hand can obviously use their “delayed” reveal to their advantage. As days go by tech advances and if they are going the PC route again, one would expect them to have the upper hand in churning out games efficiently.

    Reply

    • BeatzByChrisBrown

      February 22, 2013 at 12:30

      Game face bro! It’s too early to panic.

      Reply

    • mornelithe

      February 23, 2013 at 00:01

      Yeah, 9 months to release, at least 3 major gaming events (PAX, E3, GDC), and oh yeah, your biggest competitor announcing their hardware very soon as well, can’t imagine why they didn’t blow their whole load at a press conference that wasn’t on network television.

      The focus was on games, developers, the basic outline of what you can expect it’s abilities to be, and Sony’s push to strengthen the relationship between their hardware, and their software devs. And I think they did they extremely well, while giving us a great glimpse into what’s already been accomplished.

      Not sure why you think Microsoft would be tweaking their hardware this late in the game. Just like Sony, their devs already have the SDK’s and have been working on their IP for I would assume at LEAST a year. Changing the hardware around on the fly like that could set developers back quite some time, not to mention piss them off royally, and make them uncertain as to whether or not it’s going to be changed again before they’re finished.

      Reply

  5. ALKi1234

    February 22, 2013 at 11:10

    Sony will reveal the console and have playable PS4 demos on the floor at E3 this years.So yeah M$ better bring their A game.It should atleast be a challenge and not a beating like they got with the HD war….

    Reply

  6. Trevor Davies

    February 22, 2013 at 11:17

    MS will have to do something special to compete with a PS4 package that looks really impressive as it’s been described. If I wasn’t a content benevolent PC overlord I’d be leaning towards Sony right now.

    Reply

  7. umar bastra

    February 22, 2013 at 11:30

    Streaming to the vita is a cool little feature that will be hard for MS to emulate and PS4 came out with a lot of good ideas and features. MS will need strong first part games and improved social features. I’m curious to see if they doing backwards compatibility

    Reply

    • Tbone187

      February 22, 2013 at 11:58

      How about streaming to your laptop with windows 8??

      Reply

      • umar bastra

        February 22, 2013 at 12:05

        well this is made possible by gakai’s tech, that’s why the ps4 can act like a server and stream to the vita.

        Reply

        • mornelithe

          February 22, 2013 at 23:35

          And it’s not only the Vita they’re shooting for either, the cloud service they were talking about said could stream to as many devices as possible, and he did say tablets, and phones. I don’t remember if he said laptops, but given they’re just more beefy tablets, I can’t imagine why not.

          Reply

      • Johan du Preez

        February 25, 2013 at 13:50

        Problem is no one runs Windows 8 compared to 7 because its a pile of crap, it will failscade ..

        Reply

  8. Gustav Minnie

    February 22, 2013 at 11:32

    A Kinect version of Seduce Me.

    Reply

  9. Banana Jim

    February 22, 2013 at 11:33

    They definitely need to bring ‘a game”. Or at least SOME games. The selection of Xbox first party exclusives is looking fucking sad these days.

    And, that actually pisses me off.

    Remember when the xbox 360 launched? It had all these really cool games from diverse genres. Remember Rumble Roses XX? Remember Viva Pinata? Remember Kameo? Remember Perfect Dark? Remember Project Gotham? Remember Blue Dragon? I mean, it was actually magical. A whole range of different games for different gamers.

    Now it’s just kak of war, kako (with Master Kak), Kakazo (with kak driving), and Kakble (Peter Molyneux’s turd). That’s all that’s left of a once incredible library of amazing first party exclusives….

    And forget about the Kinect tripe, those aren’t games. I know some of you love the dance central crap, but if I wanted to dance, I’d go out with the missus. I want real games.

    Reply

    • Wtf101

      February 22, 2013 at 11:39

      Man, I so wanted to get Rumble Roses XX. But damnit. that game was on the scene for about as long as a sneeze

      Reply

      • Banana Jim

        February 22, 2013 at 11:42

        I own a copy of the PS2 version and when I saw the xbox version I freaked out. Bought it the second I saw it, took it home, and then years later, a mate of mine borrowed it. The fucker scratched the disk, and now I can’t find another copy.

        Let’s be honest, it wasn’t brilliant, but it was FREAKING RUMBLE ROSES!!!

        Reply

        • Wtf101

          February 22, 2013 at 13:51

          Now there is a game I would not mind seeing yearly releases of…

          Reply

    • Mathias

      February 22, 2013 at 11:44

      Someone here said something that if you’re going to release a new console by the end of the year, why the hell would you release a lot of exclusives for the console you’re replacing? That’s what Sony’s doing, and with back compatibility being a no-no, I don’t know if it was the smarter decision.

      MS will release Gears… And even people who got sick of the franchise will pick it up. That’s like 6 months worth of keeping people entertained (Gears 3 sucked, but I played the hell out of it for 7 months before getting burnt out), with DLCs and shit.

      I don’t even care. I’m keeping my consoles to exclusives, and GTA partying with friends if it ends up releasing this gen.

      Reply

      • Banana Jim

        February 22, 2013 at 11:52

        Sony is ending this gen extremely strong, and that means momentum going into the next cycle. Microsoft on the other hand looks weak in comparison and with its current focus on superfluous crap like turning the xbox into an entertainment hub, kinect, etc.. Quite frankly if that’s their focus for the nextbox, then I’ll definitely ignore their console like I did the Wii.

        If I want to watch a movie, I have a media harddrive (plus tower) hooked up to a 40 inch TV. I don’t need to stream shit off my xbox.

        Reply

        • GTO

          February 25, 2013 at 15:38

          I know I am three days late to this party, but… an entertainment hub is exactly what Microsoft wants. These consoles are fighting to be the central hub of the living room, games are totally secondary in the big picture. Being the central hub of the living room is far more valuable than providing a games console. The days of physical media are almost up, it is all about digital distribution. Whoevers console is infront of the TV gets to be the Valve of the console world and take a cut off every single thing you consume on the TV. Series, games, movies, porn. Doesn’t matter, soon it will be more and more standard to buy this stuff through the console. And everysingle thing you buy a cut will go to the people who host the platform… add to this they will also get to play google and there can be no ad block on a closed system, and unlike TV with the internet they can know exactly what you are watching and playing, this means extremely personalized ads. Since consoles are closed platforms it is impoirtant that it is your platform people are using. Games are just what is being used now to sell the consoles today, these companies future plans are much bigger.

          Reply

    • OVG

      February 22, 2013 at 13:51

      Both sides of the fence, developers are shit scared to innovate anymore.
      DIABLO 3???????? at the PS4 launch?????? WTF???

      Reply

      • Sir Captain Rincethis

        February 22, 2013 at 13:59

        I know, I saw that too. I mean, a turd of a game, that forced players to experience more errors than their first fucking experience and we must THANK THEM?

        Reply

        • mornelithe

          February 22, 2013 at 23:27

          Yeah, but I don’t think we’re there target audience for that one. Most of us who’re interested in the Diablo franchise have already either purchased it on PC, or gave it the finger for lame BS they pulled with it.

          Reply

  10. DarthofZA

    February 22, 2013 at 11:40

    Well first of all, take what Sony said and showed with a pinch of salt. Remember the specs the PS3 was supposed to have, right up until mere months before it was released, then suddently it wasn’t the beast we were told it was going to be. Remember the “Actual Gameplay” videos of the PS3, and all that it could do, and when those games came out, they didn’t even look a fraction as good. Sony’s track record has taught us to actaully wait and see if they’re even telling the truth about what they’re going to offer, and then if they will actually deliver on their intentions.
    MS on the other hand, if anything from the last year is to believed are going to pull a Sony/Sega/Nintendo next gen, which is a real shame. It seems all companies have to do the “Get all cocky on the second console that was a huge success, then fail big time on the third console”. I think MS are going that way by abandoning so much of what made the 360 awesome at launch, and embracing all the Social rubbish (for gamers it is rubbish) instead.
    If things pan out as I expect, next gen the PS4 will be my “lead” console in my house, but the next Killzone won’t look like what they showed.

    Reply

    • Tetsuo

      February 22, 2013 at 11:57

      “but the next Killzone won’t look like what they showed.”

      Jimmy Fallon plays Killzone, and yes, it looks incredible. The demo was actual gameplay it seems. Huzzah for not trying to Gearbox the consumer!

      Reply

      • Banana Jim

        February 22, 2013 at 12:14

        lol, he’s such a casual gamer… haahahha

        Reply

        • Tetsuo

          February 22, 2013 at 12:37

          That is putting it lightly! For a self proclaimed gamer, he could have fooled me!

          Reply

      • DarthofZA

        February 22, 2013 at 12:28

        But for all we know they could actually be playing it on a really powerful PC, or a PS4 build that is twice as powerful as the build that will come to retail. I’m old enough and have been a gamer long enough to know that Sony has a bad track record of showing us gameplay of something, claiming that that is what we can expect, and when we see it, it is nothing like what they promised. I hope it does look like that, but I’ll wait before I get my hopes up for nothing.

        Reply

        • Tetsuo

          February 22, 2013 at 12:42

          No point in arguing if’s and maybe’s, from my and your point of view.

          But, the development kit is currently in use by many a developer. And the PS4 is going to release at the end of the year. And Killzone is a launch title. So taking everything in consideration, there is a real POSSIBILITY that it’s the real deal. Not saying it is, just saying things doesn’t look to bad.

          Also, Sony is definitely not the only company that has lied about games. Even before the whole Gearbox thing, there were a lot of instances were screenshots were photoshopped etc.

          Also, I get that you are old, maar moenie soos ‘n ou vrou met ;n nat broek wees nie! Jump on the hype train once in a while; the internet is so much more fun while cathing a ride!

          Reply

    • Sir Captain Rincethis

      February 22, 2013 at 13:49

      Said like a Sir DarthofZA!

      Reply

    • mornelithe

      February 22, 2013 at 23:31

      Those specs changed long before they actually showed the console to the public, actually. Originally the designs indicated it would have 4g of XDR, with the Cell uncapped. That, of course, never happened.

      That’s a big difference though, because very very few people know what the original specs were, because most people didn’t care (Much like the folks who just don’t care to deal with building a PC/learning all the materials needed etc… I can understand that. Don’t agree with it, but I understand it). This is different, developers have already had the SDK’s for quite some time, and they’re already developing games that depend upon the resources they already have in-hand.

      Reply

  11. Martin du preez

    February 22, 2013 at 11:40

    M$ will blow everyone’s mindholes this e3 with the sleek dancing moves of Usher.

    Reply

    • Banana Jim

      February 22, 2013 at 11:45

      Usher, NETFLIX, Video, KINECT BABY!! Games are so 2008!!

      Reply

  12. Mathias

    February 22, 2013 at 11:40

    All they need to do is release a cheaper console… It all comes down to price at first.

    I personally don’t give a damn anymore about consoles… They generate retarded discussions. And we all sadly take part of those.

    Reply

    • FoxOneZA

      February 22, 2013 at 11:44

      WIN!

      Reply

  13. Jonah Cash

    February 22, 2013 at 11:41

    If the launch titles for the PS4 and Next Box are available on PS3 and Xbox 360, I won’t even bother to buy the next gen consoles for at least a year or two. Will wait for the slim versions… But if they make Watch Dogs next gen exclusive I will be shelling out whatever they want for one of the two…

    Reply

    • OVG

      February 22, 2013 at 13:52

      Also on the Wii U at the end lol.

      Reply

  14. oomjan

    February 22, 2013 at 11:50

    I feel sorry for xbox. The PS$ is so easy to design games for cause it’s using basic but good hardware. I think companies will rather create games for the ps3 now and port it to the xbox like they did with xbox360 and ps3. Xbox 360 was so shit. only hadfull of exclusive games and you can get a cheap pc that’s better than xbox 360. maybe I’m wrong. maybe the xbox will be so awesome that sony will just sit in a corner and cry

    Reply

    • Willem Swanepoel

      February 22, 2013 at 12:46

      Sony had no choice. the PS3’s Cell was one of the worst designs Sony ever released and screwed them properly.

      Reply

      • mornelithe

        February 22, 2013 at 23:58

        For games yes, but for TV’s the cell arguably helped revolutionize a great many things about HDTV’s. Too bad 3 of the biggest manufacturers of them, colluded to keep prices so high on them for years.

        But yeah, with regards to games, Sony intentionally made it difficult so that the PS3 would have longer legs AND have clear graphical improvements over that time. And I think they realize the error of that now. Since GPU/CPU tech has become so much more powerful and complex over the years, devs are still going to need time to extract every last ounce of power out of it.

        Reply

    • Sir Captain Rincethis

      February 22, 2013 at 14:08

      I actually had a slight seizure trying to understand what you wanted to say here. The Xbox was the developers choice this generation you numbnut.

      Reply

    • Johan du Preez

      February 25, 2013 at 14:02

      WOW are you high ?

      Reply

  15. Willem Swanepoel

    February 22, 2013 at 12:42

    hmm, you are far to over excited for Sony’s PS4 thingy release event.

    Go look back at it. There is no new innovation or brand new things they introduced. The stuff they announced is what everyone expected and wanted. There is nothing “WOOW” that is awesome.

    The things that the game dev companies showed were things that were already in the PC world. I really expected a lot more from Sony, it is probably because I am not a big fanboy of their products.

    Microsoft have a massive advantage now because Sony played the first hand. To be honest, Microsoft does not have to do much to beat what Sony had to offer and I believe based on the stupid rumours, MS have enough firepower to blow Sony’s PS4 into pieces.

    Time will tell, all what we can do now is to wait and see what is Microsoft’s move.

    Reply

    • Parker

      February 22, 2013 at 15:05

      What exactly do you want them to do? People are always going on about innovation but funnily enough can’t seem to come up with much themselves…

      The games lineup was solid, and, besides Star Wars 1313 and Watch Dogs, the first indication of what the nex-gen consoles are going to look like. Killzone looks spectacular, as well as Deep Down.

      So unless Microsoft have actual games to show off, I don’t see how they’re going to upstage Sony. New Kinect? With the games it has now, doubt many serious gamers are going to care.

      Reply

      • Willem Swanepoel

        February 22, 2013 at 22:26

        I am not getting paid by Sony to think what to bring out new. If you want to get a better client base or convert the xbox followers to PS4, then unfortunately, you need to be innovative …

        One Example:

        Screw their Playstation network and allowed PS4 and PC gamers to play together. It is not new but its a step ahead of Microsoft. I bet this would have given PS4 a massive head start over MS.

        Reply

        • Johan du Preez

          February 25, 2013 at 13:59

          The only problem is they have proven over and over that you cant compete against a mouse/kboard with a gamepad, you will get PS4 gamers rage quitting in droves.

          They tried it with COD and BF3 and numerous other games but the mediocre pc players outgun the best of the consoles consistently.

          Reply

          • Willem Swanepoel

            February 25, 2013 at 14:42

            Those are first person games. What about FIFA, Mass Effect, Dark Souls, GTA etc.

            If it does not work with first person games it does not mean they should completely throw it out the window

          • Johan du Preez

            February 27, 2013 at 10:29

            I was stuck on only looking at FPS games you are right with fighting games, sports and rpg type games it can definitely work.

  16. Mikhil

    February 22, 2013 at 12:46

    I’ll wait for final details from both parties before writing either off. At this point we know very little about either console. One prediction I will make (and probably be completely wrong on) is that the reason for GTA V’s delay, is for next gen versions. Sony pulled Watchdogs out at their launch (which I always suspected was next gen), I wouldn’t be surprised to see MS pull GTA V out as a Xbox 720/ Durango/8 release, with preferential release over the PS version. I really do not think the leap forward will be all that massive when it comes to graphics, but physics, AI response, multi-tasking and general improvements to environments are gonna be the big features of the next gen.

    Reply

  17. Daryl Eksteen

    February 22, 2013 at 12:50

    I think Microsoft will surprise a lot of people and own Sony with their official announcement. Sony’s EXCLUSIVE games in 2012 were lacking to non-existent. They have finally doing something about that in 2013. But my money is on Microsoft.

    Reply

    • mornelithe

      February 23, 2013 at 19:40

      Uh….what? Sony had plenty of exclusives in 2012, and a few of them were absolutely amazing…

      Twisted Metal, Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn, Journey, Legasista, Mugen Souls, Closure, Starhawk, Pixeljunk 4am, Sorcery, God of War Saga, Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory, Tokyo Jungle, One Piece: Pirate Warriors, Toki To Towa, Sports Champions 2, Tales of Xillia 2, LittleBigPlanet Karting, Wonderbook: Book of Spells, Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault, Yakuza 5, and The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky HD. In the very least, Journey was _extremely_ well received.

      The 360 had, Kinect Nat Geo TV, Kinect Sesame Street TV, NBA Baller Beats, Dance Central 3, Halo 4, Forza Horizon, Dragon Ball Z for Kinect, Steel Batallion (Kinect), Kinect Star Wars, Country Dance all Stars, and Kinect Rush. That’s a whole lot of garbage for Kinect, Forza moved a whopping 1.19 million units, so basically the one saving grace for 2012 for Microsoft was Halo 4?

      Reply

    • mornelithe

      February 23, 2013 at 19:40

      Uh….what? Sony had plenty of exclusives in 2012, and a few of them were absolutely amazing…

      Twisted Metal, Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn, Journey, Legasista, Mugen Souls, Closure, Starhawk, Pixeljunk 4am, Sorcery, God of War Saga, Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory, Tokyo Jungle, One Piece: Pirate Warriors, Toki To Towa, Sports Champions 2, Tales of Xillia 2, LittleBigPlanet Karting, Wonderbook: Book of Spells, Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault, Yakuza 5, and The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky HD. In the very least, Journey was _extremely_ well received.

      The 360 had, Kinect Nat Geo TV, Kinect Sesame Street TV, NBA Baller Beats, Dance Central 3, Halo 4, Forza Horizon, Dragon Ball Z for Kinect, Steel Batallion (Kinect), Kinect Star Wars, Country Dance all Stars, and Kinect Rush. That’s a whole lot of garbage for Kinect, Forza moved a whopping 1.19 million units, so basically the one saving grace for 2012 for Microsoft for it’s core gamers, was Halo 4?

      Reply

    • mornelithe

      February 23, 2013 at 19:40

      Uh….what? Sony had plenty of exclusives in 2012, and a few of them were absolutely amazing…

      Twisted Metal, Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn, Journey, Legasista, Mugen Souls, Closure, Starhawk, Pixeljunk 4am, Sorcery, God of War Saga, Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory, Tokyo Jungle, One Piece: Pirate Warriors, Toki To Towa, Sports Champions 2, Tales of Xillia 2, LittleBigPlanet Karting, Wonderbook: Book of Spells, Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault, Yakuza 5, and The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky HD. In the very least, Journey was _extremely_ well received.

      The 360 had, Kinect Nat Geo TV, Kinect Sesame Street TV, NBA Baller Beats, Dance Central 3, Halo 4, Forza Horizon, Dragon Ball Z for Kinect, Steel Batallion (Kinect), Kinect Star Wars, Country Dance all Stars, and Kinect Rush. That’s a whole lot of garbage for Kinect, Forza moved a whopping 1.19 million units, so basically the one saving grace for 2012 for Microsoft for it’s core gamers, was Halo 4?

      Reply

    • Johan du Preez

      February 25, 2013 at 13:54

      Really Im not even a concolse gamer and know for a fact that sony pushed out more than double exclusives the last few years than ms have.

      Only 2 exclusives left in the ms stable and thats halo and gears of war.

      Reply

  18. OVG

    February 22, 2013 at 13:48

    I shudder to think what the big wigs on the top floor have come up with. Surface social integration with Kinect social to be social but pay for social integration because being on social DRM with clouds and XBOX LIVE to socialise more in social gaming.

    Did I mention social integration with devices all around the living room running on Windows 8 so the MANDATORY KINECT 2 can keep you at a social intergration.

    SCREW THE NEXT GEN. GAMING has lost the plot.

    The Witcher 3 will be my deciding factor on what PC to get. PC, PC4 or PC720, lets wait and see.

    Reply

  19. OVG

    February 22, 2013 at 13:48

    I shudder to think what the big wigs on the top floor have come up with. Surface social integration with Kinect social to be social but pay for social integration because being on social DRM with clouds and XBOX LIVE to socialise more in social gaming.

    Did I mention social integration with devices all around the living room running on Windows 8 so the MANDATORY KINECT 2 can keep you at a social intergration.

    SCREW THE NEXT GEN. GAMING has lost the plot.

    The Witcher 3 will be my deciding factor on what PC to get. PC, PC4 or PC720, lets wait and see.

    Reply

  20. Derrick Helaire

    February 22, 2013 at 13:58

    you were wowed. Really? Everything they spoke of about what the ps4 can do basically the 360 has been doing with the exception of high end graphics’. I was not impressed at all. Basically the Xbox’s current online service is still going to be better than ps4 next Os. This article must have been written by a Sony fan boy who knows little about trends. Sony still living in the past and xbox is still years ahead online. Remember who brought new possibilities to the online experience. Not Sony or Nintendo.

    Reply

    • mornelithe

      February 23, 2013 at 00:10

      Not necessarily, Gaikai does have the world record for the fastest network, so with that acquisition they not only swallow up their cloud technology, but also their deep knowledge in networking. Sony was never a networking company, so I think above the cloud stuff, that was more of a benefit to the buyout, than anything else.

      The opposite is true as well though, Microsoft was never really a hardware manufacturer. Which is why their hardware launches haven’t exactly been the smoothest of affairs. Hopefully, they don’t allow the mistakes of the past to repeat. That would be tremendous though, if both companies manage to fix their weaknesses this gen.

      Would make the next several years very very interesting.

      Reply

      • Derrick Helaire

        February 23, 2013 at 14:51

        indeed it would be interesting. It would then come down to innovation which currently Microsoft has an edge.

        Reply

        • mornelithe

          February 23, 2013 at 16:27

          Not sure I’d really agree with that, being perfectly honest, neither company has shown any serious innovation lately. But that’s been primarily due to hardware limitations, Microsoft’s drive to push multimedia and family friendly/casual crap in the living room (Sony went through the multimedia phase earlier in the Ps3’s cycle), and both companies preparing for the next gen, in full force.

          Additionally, Sony has nearly double the internal studios that Microsoft has (which is why Sony can develop core PS3 titles, family friendly titles, casual titles and PS Vita titles all year long, while also working simultaneously on new IP/sequels for the PS4. Microsoft doesn’t have this much flexibility, which is why you’ve heard a number of complaints regarding a lack of core exclusives lately, ask James). And as we’ve seen this generation, even with the massive price tag at launch, Sony was still able to close the gap, after a years head start by MS. Microsoft should actually be kinda worried about that, because it looks like Sony’s going to hit the market first, and while the price tag might be higher, you can bet they won’t be having the launch issues that the 360 did.

          Microsoft’s strategy last time around, even with RROD, worked out really well. Launched early, snatched up exclusive/timed exclusive material that was either new IP, or had in the past been considered Sony’s IP, and were able to kinda keep the PS3 down until purchasing exclusivity became too expensive given the numbers of PS3’s on the market. But, their early launch was integral to that formula, as well as an unrivaled marketing blitz on virtually every big name launch. Their marketing was also very key to their success imo.

          With Sony out the gate first, it changes the equation completely, and Sony has the unique advantage of owning nearly double the internal studios of Microsoft. There’s a reason they’re able to release such a diverse catalog of IP, in a constant stream, across multiple platforms. Where Microsoft has shown the habit of focusing on one demographic at a time. Right now it’s family friendly/casual Kinect stuff, and that’s had an adverse effect on their core audience.

          Reply

          • Derrick Helaire

            February 24, 2013 at 16:53

            Everyone started to chase Nintendo after the success of casual gaming and they both Sony and Microsoft lost their way for a time. The fact that Microsoft decided to go controller-less instead of outright copying the Wii prove to me that they were willing to take a chance of bringing something different to consoles. You cant argue that unless you’re blind to the facts. Look when Nintendo failed us in the past Sony was there for us gamers with the ps1 & ps2. Without Atari,no Nintendo,without Nintendo,no Playstation,without Playstation no Xbox,but without innovation no future. Graphics are expected for next Gen consoles, but I didnt see any real innovation at their press conference let alone no console because it isn’t ready. If Microsoft shows gamers that its console is here and ready and is capable then Sony just shot themselves in the foot.

          • mornelithe

            February 24, 2013 at 17:46

            Well, no. They weren’t chasing Nintendo. They were attempting to garner interest from some of their demographic, but I’m pretty sure both Sony and Microsoft are firmly aware that the people who find their hardware most interesting, aren’t the majority of Nintendo’s demo either. If they truly wanted to chase nintendo, they probably should’ve focused on reducing the price of their console and making completely different games than they do. Because…you know, adding the price of Kinect, and PS Move on top of their more expensive consoles, isn’t exactly the best of way to garner favor with Nintendo’s demo.

            Sony actually had a controller-less solution, long before the Wii or 360 (eyetoy). Nintendo copied that, and added to it. Microsoft copied the eyetoy and made it better. Sony made their eyetoy better also. The difference is, Sony can actually make core titles, while they make motion titles. Without having an adverse effect on their release of core titles. Nintendo doesn’t have to bother, because Nintendo’s developers don’t make adult titles

            Kinect has promise….but the misses, are far to frequent. The hits aren’t compelling enough to keep their core happy. And Microsoft, due to it’s lack of flexibility in development teams, doesn’t really have the ability to spread it out. I mean, look at 2012’s release list. 2 Core games…and then a pile of Kinect shyte. And then you have Steel Batallion Kinect, which has to be the biggest fuck you to probably the greatest game on Xbox. “Yes, we know you paid $250 for the original game, but we want you to pay another 2 bills to play this one…and oh yeah, that giant 2-3 foot controller you bought for the first title….it won’t work for this one” Great thinking there Microsoft. Of course Kinect has as much application to a Mech game, as a giant controller that’s literally modeled after the inside of the mech…that is so indepth, it has it’s own ‘wash windshield’ button.

            In your opinion Sony shot themselves in the foot, from the majority of those in the industry, and fans. They say Sony came out completely differently from last gen, which is to say, they took all the criticisms that developers and gamers had, and applied it to the new machine, giving developers virtually everything they want.

            They didn’t show the box, because they haven’t finalized how it will look. But, they did show the UE4 engine running on a console, something you haven’t seen yet. Either way, Microsoft actually needs to show their CORE audience, that they will focus on THEM, and they need to do it soon. Otherwise, all they’re seeing is Sony’s continued drive to support both Core and Casual. While Microsoft will abandon one for the other, for almost an entire year. People want actual games, not the promise of something a few years from now, and certainly not being kicked to the curb for such a long period of time, when the hardware manufacturer decides to make a cash grab for a demo that had nothing to do with the Xbox divisions success.

          • Derrick Helaire

            February 26, 2013 at 05:04

            update Sony has 30 companies Microsoft had 26 and just signed 4 new IPs. Starting to make sense now.

          • mornelithe

            February 26, 2013 at 08:16

            Actually you’re right, I went back and double-checked, and I was looking at an older list. Which sucks hah. But w/e, it happens. It’s great that Microsoft did acquire a number of studios during this last gen, my only concern now is exactly how many Kinect games are in production in those studios. Which is the vast, vasty majority. Overall (faulty numbers aside on my part), Microsoft’s bread and butter isn’t Kinect and kids games. It’s their core gamer’s who propelled them to greatness in this generation.

            So, why aren’t they better at spreading out their teams? Ensuring that they’re working on titles for all their customers, or even, dare I say, focusing on the gamer’s who make them the most money? But hey, April’s right around the corner, so we’ll see what they’ve got up their sleeves, I’m sure it won’t be disappointing, but, the current list of projects they have their developers working on and the overwhelming focus on Kinect garbage (I mean seriously, have there been that many good Kinect games?) is a concern. I wouldn’t be thrilled to see Sony focusing exclusively on a demographic they typically have no business targeting, while ignoring the types of games they’re known for.

          • Derrick Helaire

            February 27, 2013 at 02:02

            I actually like Kinect. The only people that dont like Kinect are the ones that haven’t used it on a daily basis or dont have it at all and yet remain closed minded.mass effect 3 was sweet with Kinect and skyrim. I have tournaments every weekend bowling on Kinect sports because people rather come by and not have to spend a lot of money in order to bowl and yes you can share game footage on the Kinect to the public. So ps4 sharing is nothing new to Xbox gamers.

          • mornelithe

            February 27, 2013 at 04:53

            Oh, you can share while actually playing the game, seamlessly? That’s pretty cool. Can you have friends take over your controller remotely and show you something you’re not getting? Can you have video chat w/ someone during a game, while they’re watching, picture in picture? No? K. I can keep going if you really want me to tick off all the things that’re new. Whether you use them or not is irrelevant.

            And your claim that people who don’t like Kinect, are the ones who haven’t used it is inaccurate. There are numerous individuals, on this very site who have it, who’ve said they just don’t care. Which is exemplified by the fact that you use it for bowling. Sorry, but that’s no ground breaking achievement…there are plenty of motion bowling games.

            And if you recall, I said core titles. By all means, if Microsoft wants to make the greatest Kinect bowling titles there ever were, fine. I’m sure Sony won’t mind swallowing up all the core gamers…who actually have a higher attachment rate than the motion crowd. Yeah, Sony would be absolutely ok with that.

    • Johan du Preez

      February 25, 2013 at 14:03

      You call social features innovation ? “checks again if he is on a gaming site”

      Reply

      • Derrick Helaire

        February 27, 2013 at 02:30

        now this comment must be from Sony or PC fanboy because if you had an Xbox 360 you would know why Sony is trying adopt an online service like xbox live. You think all the new features coming to ps4 is innovative please. Sony said it built its console for games and they dont want anything to get in the way of gamers yet they have a Dedicated Share button on the controller which sends feeds to ustream and Facebook. Can you say social one more time? The 360 has so many features people tend to forget things like watching a Netflix movie together in a theatre setting while talking and laughing watching the same video. Video chatting via Kinect. I had video calls all day during Christmas with family all over the country showing gifts didnt matter if they were on a computer or had Kinect also. Turning your Xbox off with voice command when you dont have time to find the remote or controller. man there’s so many things you can do it will take me righting an article about it as you can see. Don’t get me wrong I love Sony I’ve got a 55 inch wega in my bedroom and its using the same lamp that came with it when it first came out. It doesn’t compare with my 73 inch 3d tv but it does the job. Point is dont talk about something you dont fully understand unless you got the experience to justify it.

        Reply

        • mornelithe

          February 27, 2013 at 05:03

          “The 360 has so many features people tend to forget things like watching a Netflix movie together in a theatre setting while talking and laughing watching the same video.”

          They probably forgot that while reading that more people “stream netflix content to their televisions via the PS3 than any other device worldwide”

          And what’s revolutionary about video calls with Kinect? I was doing that with my EyeToy long before Kinect hit the market, and my PC years and years before the PS3 or 360 hit the market. And just an FYI, Netflix was testing voice control via the PS3 back in 2009 (it has since gone live). Go ahead, write an article, odds are many of those features have either been on PC, or on console already (for years no less), but you wouldn’t know that because you’re too busy acting like ‘video’ chat is revolutionary on console, streaming Netflix is somehow unheard of, and Kinect bowling is what the majority of 360 owners bought it for.

          “Point is dont talk about something you dont fully understand unless you got the experience to justify it.”

          Sounds like you should take your own advice.

          Reply

  21. mornelithe

    February 22, 2013 at 23:50

    Microsoft certainly has the capital to do something very very competitive, the problem is they still lag behind the competition in in-house studios (Sony has like 53, MS 26), I was surprised that they didn’t spend more time this gen swallowing them up, because it becomes far far too expensive to purchase exclusivity when your competition has 60-70+ million units on the market.

    The only other concern is the hardware architecture at launch, if they’re rushed to get this out to match Sony. What kind of product are they releasing this time? I cannot imagine they would allow the same kind of glaring defects as existed inside the 360 at launch. If they do….I mean, that _Should_ be the death knell of any hardware designer. But, I think they’ve proven that marketing can trump bad publicity. So who knows.

    I want them to do well, and I want them to serve their loyal customer’s interests and desires about the future of the MS division. I won’t get one (They don’t have Gran Turismo), but that doesn’t mean other people don’t have a vested interest in MS’ noteworthy franchises. And the better they do, the more Sony will have to respond in kind, so win-win really.

    And yes, I’m in the camp of Sony did extremely well, they saved a great deal of information on games, hardware and functionality for PAX, E3 and GDC, which will help them keep focus on their new hardware and games in the coming months.

    Reply

  22. TheBeasht

    February 23, 2013 at 11:13

    Some things I want MS to show:
    1. Innovative new IP’s
    2. Hardware specs more or equal in POWAR to PS4!!
    3. An improved controller with a good D-Pad that works with Kinect.
    4. Free online play.
    5. And something amazing to completely blow my mind and make me think out loud “why didn’t I think of that. Idiot!”

    That’s all.

    Reply

  23. Ben Prager

    February 26, 2013 at 18:48

    Microsoft if it has backwards compatibility and whatnot will be fine. 8gigs of DVR5 ram is impressive, but the visual difference was negligible, unless someone actually makes the transition to Voxels, which WILL looks significantly superior, with so much ram to back it up.

    But really, microsofts doesn’t need it’s “A game”, it needs GAMES that look interesting and aren’t sequels. Graphically it will probably look the same.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Check Also

Gears of War studio is now fully focused on "next-gen development" as it shifts to Unreal Engine 5

The Coalition announced this week that its future projects will be developed on Epic's lat…